Start of Something
by Polar Jeans
Summary: High School AU. Sakura-centric. Getting used to the big city and supposedly prestigious school were hard, especially with her dad-the only person she's been with for more than three years-tending the ill somewhere in Snow, happily occupied, not a clue of her teenage turmoils; pretty seniors and handsome teachers are just naming a few.
1. 1: Truck Journey

**Hi, readers, this is my first chapter-ed story, so forgive the grammar error and amateur writing, it gets better, I hope...**

 **SoS will be Sakura-centric, and it's not really a serious plotted story, but it will be quite an enjoyable ride. The romance will be kind of slow, but this is friendship/romance/family/drama kind of story, and it's High School, so it will be there, definitely.**

 **Happy reading, and please, leave a review!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN NARUTO.**

* * *

 **Start of Something**

 **"Truck Journey"**

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It all started this one fine afternoon just after Sakura Haruno graduated from Ame Middle School.

"We're going where?" the fifteen years old asked her dad when she saw him packing all his things into his old duffel bag. His action hardly surprise her by now, because they've been traveling places since Sakura was only three after her parents separated and her mom remarried.

Sakura's dad's a humanitarian volunteer doctor (with a penchant for landscape painting) and they had stayed in five different countries—big cities, small cities, villages—before Ame. Packing things and suddenly moving out is not out of ordinary. In fact, traveling cross country is just a matter of an emergency phone call her dad received a couple of nights before and hastily made living arrangements and kissing her not quite friends goodbye. It was all an abstract routine.

Unlike usual, though, when Sakura looked at him, her dad looked more sad than guilty.

"I'm going to Snow." He stopped trying to fit all his clothes into the bag and sighed. Sakura noticed her dad looked more tired than usual, his stress line more prominent behind his glasses. "They need me there to help as a doctor and the condition's really bad after the winter storm."

Sakura watched as he moves to sat down on his couch, wiping his glasses. She understands the work of a volunteer doctor and having to be placed into a less than ideal situation and place didn't really bother her too much. "So," she said, "when will we leave for Snow?"

Her dad stared at her wearily. "I'll move out next Thursday, after you left for Konoha."

Part of this is the usual routine. Packing up, goodbye house the twentieth, thank you for letting she and her dad sleep under your roof for a year, meeting new stranger (dad's acquaintances) and ciao.

There's a pause as Sakura contemplate this. Then, "Why would I be going to Konoha?"

"For many good reasons," her dad said, not quite looking at her. "One of them is High school."

Sakura narrowed her eyes. There are so many questions and complaints she wished to vocalize but she settled for the most convenient. She drew in a breath, then looked up at her dad. "Could you please explain?"

"I can't bring you." He said, sounding resolute but hesitant at the same time. "Snow is in havoc and there'd be no school, no apartment, and you're just fifteen." His voice tight, "you have a future, being with me will get you nowhere."

Somewhere inside, Sakura was screaming, she was sure. Whenever she tried to think about future; where will she be, jobs, significant others, she always get this blurred images of her mom. Initially, she has a hard time imagining other kind of life than the kind she had been living with her dad since forever, but she always knew the routine will end, somehow.

She wasn't quite like her dad, wandering soul and border-less artist. She likes studying, like her mom, and getting the highest score in tests and she's somehow good at sports. But she'd been with her dad for fifteen years.

Sakura knew, in a sense, that maybe she was just like her mother, a small soul, longing for a set people and a set lifestyle and liking routine and normalcy and while she didn't actively pursue what her mom leave them for, she still search for it in the life she's got; that her dad is the only thing constant in her life. The other people never stayed with her for more than three years longest and that was her mom.

"I already arranged school and accommodation for you in Konoha through my acquaintance, Nagato. His former teacher has close relation to Tsunade Senju of the Sannin Hospital and she agreed to be your warden while you're there."

So she's given a chance to experience it, something other than her flighty sedentary life. A chance to find a standing but for that chance she'll have to let go of her ever only constant.

"And," he said slowly, "if everything's alright, I'll visit you in two years."

He said _visit_ , she hadn't missed that.

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On Wednesday, Sakura packed her truck with her red duffel bag of clothes and a small suitcase containing the rest of her things. She rode with her dad to the border of the Fire country. That way, they'll let them pass.

"So," Sakura said while driving. "You'll get off at the border and I'll have to meet—umm who, at the—uhh, Nohara Inn isn't it?"

Her dad chuckled. "It's Hatake Kakashi, now remember the name, I'll never going to get to Snow if you lost your way."

"Right," she smiled, "okay, so, it's a guy then?"

He stared at her warily and she let out a mischievous grin.

"And how old is this Hatake Kakashi guy?" she drawled, wiggling her eyebrows a little.

He sighed. "I knew you're going to try making me severely regret sending you off during this ride."

She poked her dad in the ribs with one hand while they laughed. "It's revenge."

Maybe it's the nature of their relationship, maybe she's not really an emotionally attached person, or maybe it's their frequent moving and series of goodbyes, but Sakura only felt just a little sad and not at all lonely when she hugged her dad goodbye. She continued on alone after dropping off her dad after passing the border and she arrived at the Inn just before sunset.

Nohara Inn is a modest traditional Japanese guest house with sliding doors and tatami floor, an onsen and a dense forest view at the far back. The cost is pretty affordable, given the facility, and Sakura, being the little skeptic she was, proceed to give a thorough check on her room.

Of course, there's nothing wrong with her room, or the yukata she's given, but she has a sinking suspicion she's got the price lowered deliberately by the innkeeper. Maybe the old lady knew her dad, somehow, and given his occupation, it's not unlikely.

Feeling satisfied with her temporary sleeping arrangement, Sakura quickly changed into her yukata and head for the entrance hall slash lounge and waited patiently for the Hatake Kakashi.

After fifteen minutes she was beginning to realize the flaw in her plan.

Though it's certainly not nearly as crowded as the usual modern hotel in the city, there are still a couple of people and families lounging in the hall and she had no idea which one is supposed to be Hatake Kakashi or if he even present at all.

She decided to wait another fifteen minutes before she'd phoned her dad.

Twenty minutes into the waiting, someone poked her in the shoulder from behind when she almost dozed off.

Sakura turned back quickly. "Yes?"

A woman that seemed to be in her mid-twenties with brown hair and warm eyes smiled at her. "Excuse me for asking, I'm Nohara Rin, are you Haruno Sakura-san?"

Sakura nodded. "I am."

She smiled and sat on the empty chair beside her and Sakura straighten in her seat.

"I'm Hatake Kakashi's friend. I'm here to apologize on his behalf."

"Oh," Sakura blinked, still considering whether or not to trust the woman. "I guess he can't come? May I inquire the reason?"

The woman laughed and Sakura felt uneasy with her predicament. "Oh no, no, Kakashi will come, maybe an hour from now or so. I'm just here to keep you company, I managed this Inn."

Sakura feels a little at ease. If managing the Inn is her job, then the chances of her kidnapping her away lessen some good deal. It still could be a lie, though.

"I heard about you from Kakashi. He said you'll attend Konoha High with the Senju name sponsoring you."

Sakura blushed a little. "Yeah, my dad contacted the head of Sannin Hospital, Tsunade Senju and she agreed to watch over me after getting through my school documents. I feel like it's kind of like —uhm—an unusual scholarship, I suppose."

Rin tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Hmm, must be a spectacular score you've got, for Tsunade-sama to agree to it." She smiled warmly, "you're going to like it, having Tsunade-sama as your teacher. But you'd have to be tough, she's scary sometimes…"

"Nohara-san, you're an acquaintance of Senju Tsunade?"

"Yeah, I'm an alumnus of Konoha High. I also work under her at the hospital." She said cheerfully.

Sakura fidget in her seat. "What's it like? The school?" The _dorm_ , the _people_ , the _teachers_ …

"I heard it's kind of…" she trailed off, not sure how to phrase it right but the brown-haired woman laughed anyway.

"It's tough, definitely," she said thoughtfully. "Studying there is a pain in the ass, but I guess every High School is like that. It's plenty fun, though, High School." She sighed. "But yeah, Konoha High is kind of… elite, for the lack of better word. It's really different from the other institution, and most of the students there are from, you know, prominent families all over the country and all that networking things."

They continued to talk for two hours before Hatake Kakashi showed up with his friend, Uchiha Obito, who's, apparently, the boyfriend of Nohara Rin. Sakura went to bed—futon, actually—just after they arrived and introduced themselves (kind of anticlimactic).

The morning after that, the four of them ride to Konoha, with Kakashi joining in Sakura's truck while Rin and Obito ride on his car.

Fifteen minutes of non-awkward silence in her truck, Sakura turn on her playlist and glanced at her silent companion, who's reading.

"Is it okay if I put on some music?" She asked to which he nodded and she shrugged.

She glanced at him from time to time, taking in his strange features. With unruly grayish hair, a vertical scar across his left eye and dark mask covering his face from just below his eyes, Sakura's initial impression of the man is that of a terrorist. She checked his id, just to be sure.

After forty minutes of side glancing, he finally looked up from his book and hummed lowly along John Mayer's _Free Fallin'_.

Sakura shifted unconsciously in her seat, looking at the mysterious masked man who's supposed to be her guide, completely fascinated, until her truck hit a bump on the road and she refocused herself, face flushed hot as she kept on looking ahead.

"I don't recognize some of the songs, but they're good."

Sakura turned her head, a tinge of red still on her cheeks. "Y-ye—uhh." She stuttered and nodded and slapped her hand to her face. "I mean, some of them are indie, or just a couple of tracks I've found in films, but I've got a few—umm—newest pop ones? If you prefer…"

He turned, all crinkly eyed smiles that should be at least a little creepy but somehow not. "Nah, it's good. I'm not really into pop."

Sakura squealed inwardly, suddenly excited. "Really? What kind of music are you into then?"

Her gray haired companion scratched the back of his neck and made non-committal noise before shrugging, "anything that's good."

Sakura frowned, confused and a little interested. And suddenly, she couldn't hold her grin—she imagined she did this weird hybrid half-not pleased-half ecstatic face.

She cleared her throat. "I usually find some tracks from each genre that I like, so I don't really have preferences either."

Some minutes passed before Kakashi strike a conversation again. "What's this song called?"

Sakura smiled _again_ , turning to the side. "Stubborn Love. This song is my personal soundtrack for reading this really, really unexplainable, evil, food repellent book; The Secret History, by Donna Tart. Do you know it? You seemed like a reader to me, because, you know, you haven't put that book down since yesterday..."

Kakashi's one visible eye crinkle and he shrugged. "I read sometimes." He said.

At noon, Kakashi got a call from Rin and they stopped at a restaurant to eat, the meal being payed by her boyfriend.

Sakura ate in a fast pace as polite as she can, because she's really hungry and she's with adults, but when she's finished, she saw Kakashi's bowl was empty, the mask already in place, as though he hadn't need to take it off at all. She looked at him, completely flabbergasted.

Obito noticed Sakura's incredulous stare and chuckled. "Still the same old Kakashi."

When they continued on their way, Sakura feel a little more at ease with Kakashi and comfortable enough to hum to the music as she drives.

 _"_ _You'll remember me when the west wind moves upon the fields of barley you'll forget the sun in his jealous sky as we walk in fields of gold."_ She sang lightly.

After the song ended, Kakashi asked her if she'd like to rest and switch now.

"Okay." She said and they switched, he took over the driver seat and Sakura took a nap contentedly.

She woke up in the middle of Oasis' _Champagne Supernova,_ her head leaning against the window. She looked out to the distance to a scenic view of the almost sunset with orange and pink skies.

She straightens her posture groggily.

"Sorry," she mumbled. "I didn't realize I was so tired."

Kakashi gave her his easy eyes' smile.

"You drove from the border alone yesterday, and drove me for half a day today, it's fair enough."

"I have some wafers." She opened her backpack and let out her snacks. "Do you want the chocolate one or vanilla?"

Kakashi hummed. "Do you like chocolate?"

Sakura raised both her eyebrows. "Um, yeah." Kakashi continued to hum nonchalantly.

Sakura chuckled. "Here's your vanilla wafer." She offered him.

"Thanks."

Sakura nodded and turned her view, taking in the lighted big city scape.

"Do you know where will I be staying tonight?"

"Well, they only told me to give you to Shizune-san, Tsunade's assistant. She lived with her at the school compound, so maybe you'll sleep there tonight."

"Do teachers live at school?" because honestly, it's what shocked her the most.

Kakashi shrugged. "It's optional, actually, but teachers are given a house inside the school ground to help managed the dorm."

Sakura contemplate this. "It's really different from all the schools I've been into, but I guess this is _Konoha_."

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They went through a big old-fashioned iron gates after Kakashi gave one of the guards his id and two other security guards let them through. It was seven p.m. and Sakura felt her bottom hurt from the ten hour truck ride and she was too tired to take note of her new school ground.

They parked in front of a moderately sized house and a dark-haired young woman greeted them as soon as Sakura got off the truck, feeling glad to be able to finally stretch her legs and massaged her bum.

The dark-haired woman introduced herself as Shizune, Tsunade's assistant and after hearing the pathetic growl of Sakura's stomach, she hurriedly ushered her inside. Kakashi, Obito and Rin waved their goodbye and said their good luck.

"Haruno-san how's your journey?" Shizune asked while ushering Sakura into the dining room, where dinner was already on the table.

Sakura think of her ride from Ame and the Inn and meeting Kakashi and with a lump on her throat and a sudden headache, all she could think about was how she already missed her dad. She forced a polite smile. "It's fine, but exhausting. I'm glad to be here."

Shizune smiled back easily. "Well, you should eat. I'll be upstairs to prepare your bed, okay?"

"Okay." She said.

After she finished her dinner, Shizune showed her to her room at the end of the second floor.

The room was small, painted a warm white with a lone window covered by light brown curtain. A single bed, neatly made with an elaborate mahogany headboard was pushed up against the wall facing the window and on its side there was a wooden nightstand. There's a bureau just beside the window but there's no wardrobe so it's probably a guest room or some sort.

Sakura took a shower before doing a little unpacking.

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"Hey," greeted a strained voice of the other end of the line, "you get in okay?"

It was late at night when Sakura decided to call her dad, already finished unpacking her things and was lying on the bed, feeling unsettled, but as soon as she heard his voice, though it sounded gruff and muffled on the phone and not quite light as it was normally, she felt easiness come seeping at her heart as well as sleepiness.

"Yeah," she stifled a yawn, "it's quite nice here. Where are you now?"

"I'm in Taki, still on the road. I start a little late this morning so we haven't reached the Inn yet, but everything's okay."

"Okay," she replied. "Stay safe, dad."

"Yeah, how—how's Konoha?"

Sakura frowned, then glanced at the curtained window, imagining the busy and colorful city. "Well," she began, "I fell asleep half the ride and when I woke up, it's already tall buildings and stores all around, but the school's far from it, I think. It's in the middle of the city, but the ground is expansive so it's quiet here."

There's a pause as he processed this and Sakura think he might be nodding. Then, "I hope you like it there." And somehow, Sakura can feel the smile.

"It's already late, Sakura, you should sleep." He said.

She didn't argue. Sleepiness almost took over her completely.

"Bye dad, love you." She yawned.

"Have a good sleep, kid."

She ended the line, then thought of her dad and sang her bedtime song before darkness take over.

" _Two drifters, off to see the world, there such a lot of world to see, we're after the same rainbow's end, waiting round the bend, my huckleberry friend…moon river, and me."_

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 **I'll be updating as soon as I got at least 5 following!  
**

 **The songs are: (Obviously) John Mayer version of Free Fallin', Stubborn Love by The Lumineers, Oasis' Champagne Supernova, and Sting's Fields of Gold and Moon River (Personally, I imagined Sakura sang the Audrey Hepburn version)**

 **You could suggest me some songs and I'll hear it out!**


	2. 2: First Dress

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN NARUTO.**

* * *

 **Start of Something**

 **"First Dress"**

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Sakura didn't meet Tsunade until her sixth day of staying in her house, by which she already establish a rather boring though sometimes exciting routine of; making breakfast (highly disapproved by Shizune at first, though she learned to just enjoy it), doing a little exploring and meeting new people (staff, mostly, or teacher, but never student), helping Shizune around the house or just have a little chat with people or dad over the phone, reading books Shizune brought her from the basement library, dinner and sleep.

On the sixth day, however, the routine began a little differently.

After finished showering, Sakura put on her yesterday jeans and white pull up shirt and head downstairs to make breakfast to find Shizune already on the job.

She checked the clock. It was still seven, the same time she usually went downstairs to prepare breakfast.

Shizune saw her and smiled. Getting used to this, Sakura automatically smiled back. "Tsunade-sama will come home tonight from, well, her other home with the Senju. I'll be going out to buy ingredients," at this she turned to Sakura while handing her a plate of sandwiches, "do you want to come? It must be boring staying in the school ground when no one's your age is around."

"Okay," Sakura nodded, to which Shizune smiled.

"Be ready at ten. I'll call the driver."

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Konoha was the biggest busiest city Sakura had ever been into. The second was probably Suna, but she wasn't sure, because the city was located in the dessert and the streets and stores are more active at night, but when Sakura stayed there, she was five so she didn't get to see the famous dessert nightlife.

The temperature was pretty high outside but there's air conditioner in the car and at stores and malls. From the highway, Sakura can see various buildings, towering high and alive with screens and lighting; hotels, department stores, restaurants, apartments.

It seems like the city was always moving with cars, busses, trains and people.

The driver drop Sakura and Shizune in the front lobby of Grand Aeon Mall or GAM as Shizune mentioned. Apparently it's a popular shopping mall.

"Maybe you'll meet your soon-to-be fellow classmates here." Shizune suggested. Sakura felt uncomfortable at the notion.

An hour later, they were sitting at a café, drinking coffee, grocery bags sprawled on their feet.

Shizune was looking at Sakura intently from her mug.

"Sakura, when's your birthday?" She asked suddenly.

Sakura looked up at Shizune. "It's March twenty eighth."

"Nee, let's buy you a formal dress, a simple one," she quickly added. "The Senju will invite you for a formal dinner anytime soon; you have to have a simple black dress or something."

Sakura never thought that buying a dress can be mandatory in any occasion in the past fifteen years she's been living, but seeing the scenery around her—dresses and heels on most of the display windows—she thinks that Shizune must be right. Here, having a dress is probably basic.

"Sakura? What do you say?"

Feeling just a little bit dumb, Sakura nodded her consent.

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In the afternoon after helping Shizune put down the groceries, Sakura went upstairs to shower and put on what she deemed to be her best shirt. She sat on a straight-backed chair looking out to the window and read a book Shizune gave her the night before.

The book is about medicinal plants' properties and unsurprisingly, after an hour or so, in the middle of _Salvia officinalis_ , Sakura got bored.

She closed the book and threw herself unto the bed, reaching for her phone and sang along to the music. When her playlist hit The Beatles' _Hey Jude_ she thought about her dad and the last phone call they made just yesterday night.

"Hey," she greeted, "how's little Nao?"

Little Nao was one of the many patients slash refugee her dad's been in charge to take care with. He told Sakura the second day he arrived at Snow Country. Little Nao was a courageous seven years old and adored her doctor very much.

"She's fine," he answered in a significantly lighter tone than what she'd been hearing the last month they were in Ame. "She questioned everything whenever I was taking care of the other refugee, but it's good," Sakura raised her brow at this, "maybe in a few years, she'll be able to help the nurses."

Sakura wasn't sure what she felt when hearing it or the tone her dad used when saying it, noticeable even through the phone. It was always there, the nasty thoughts and nagging feelings. She always suspected it; that her dad seemed happier whenever he's away from her.

At first it was _he sure sound more relaxed when he's at work_ , and she joked about it lightly sometimes. She'd attributed it to his character; her dad's not a person that can be hold down by human-made boundaries. He painted landscapes and nature. He works as a volunteer doctor. Though for her dad, it wasn't a job, it wasn't charity either. It was his life.

Sakura understand why he seemed to be more at ease when out in the field, taking care and interacting with patients. She admired him for it. She wouldn't want to burden him or hold him back from something that was so plainly important to her dad, so she helped as she could. Studying medicine, first aid kit, interacting with patients, and if she wasn't allowed, she'd find something to entertain herself, careful not to disturb. If she's at home (always a temporary adjective) she'd clean the house, make dinner, wait and study. She made damn sure her dad never worry.

"And how's Konoha? Make any friends yet?" he asked.

There was a pause as Sakura move to close the window to prevent the chilly night air getting to her warm bed. She thought of Shizune and Kakashi, Rin and Obito. "Here is fine," she said simply. "I met a lot of people."

"Oh." He said, and (just) a little bit awkward silence took in.

She looked out through the window glass into the night and below the vast grassy ground. In a split second she thought she saw a human movement behind a building. She let out a yawn.

As if on cue, her dad also cleared his throat. "It's late, Sakura, maybe you should rest."

She was sorely tempted to ignore the idea, but she bit back.

"Okay, daddy."

She imagined a smile when he said through the phone, over and over since her first night, "sleep tight, kiddy."

Sakura moved to the shopping bag sprawled on the edge of her bed and let out the contents.

They didn't buy a black dress, instead, a calf-length, light viridian dress with spaghetti straps fall into her bed. She felt uncomfortable showing her bare shoulders but Shizune insist they buy the dress and she'll lend her a blazer instead.

They find the dress in a small store near _Busy Brew's_ café. It was the second dress they tried and Shizune jumped a little and gushed _oh so perfectly it fit_ and ran to the counter.

Sakura was spluttered when she first tried the dress and look in the mirror inside the small confine of the dressing room. She was a smart, hardworking and somehow strong girl. Pretty was never her adjective. She heard cute often times, or sometimes unique, or even _exotic_ (dark shudder). She was perfectly average in spite of her coloring; pale skin, pink hair, green eyes. She's thin, leggy, but not at all curvy—A-cup (bordering on B!) and no hips, heart face with shoulder length hair and side swept bangs.

Truthfully she got a little nervous and self-conscious when she first hit the mall, seeing all the glamour and pretty faces, not at all like the scene she was so used to see; poverty, rag clothes, less-than-clean skins.

After trying the dress, she got a little smug in spite of herself. So, she _can_ look _pretty_.

She hung the dress behind the door and was admiring the soft fabric when she heard Shizune calling her from downstairs.

"Be right there!" she shouted back, closing her door and stumbling hurriedly downstairs.

"Tsunade-sama's here." She said as Sakura follow her through the front door.

The same silver Mercedes they took to GAM was pulled into the driveway and a very curvaceous stern-looking blonde woman emerged from the backseat door.

Shizune quickly came over to her side, taking in her army green trench coat and they all went inside the house and into the dining room. On the intricate wooden table, a rather spectacular menu was laid out to Sakura's awe.

Before Tsunade took her seat, Sakura introduced herself. "My name's Sakura Haruno, it's an honor to meet you in person, Tsunade-sama." She bowed, her neck felt hot all of a sudden.

After a slight uncomfortable silence, Tsunade let out a hearty laugh and Sakura finally raise her posture.

"You're just like what they told me!" she gave Sakura a once-over, then her eyes landed somewhere above her eyes.

The blonde woman studied Sakura intently, brows furrowed in a serious expression, which made her stern-looking face even more intimidating. A sigh escaped her lips. "It's natural." She finally concluded.

Sakura fidget uneasily. "What?" she half-whispered.

"The pink," was her answer. Shizune winced.

"Yeah," Sakura replied with a flat voice and it amazed her how she could be so bold for some two seconds.

After they all took a seat, Tsunade on the head of the table with Shizune and Sakura on either side of her, Sakura tried her best to be on her best behavior. She sat up straight, elbows off the table. Whenever the blonde woman asked her a question or Shizune attempted to talk or make pleasant conversation with her, she would sat up straighter (if possible) and swallowed whatever she was chewing and answered very dutifully.

Shizune gave her an amused slash worried glance every now and then while Tsunade laugh out loud at her antics.

She helped clear the table once they're done and helped wash the dishes, and though she usually does this, Shizune actually chuckled when she rigidly offered her hands.

Once Sakura's done, she asked permission to leave for her room.

"Haruno Sakura," she heard Tsunade called her just as she was about to start up the stairs.

Sakura turned around quickly, "hai, Tsunade-sama," and mentally slapped herself for sounding so militaristic.

She saw Tsunade smirked, both her hands clamped together just below her lips as she stared at her. "You'll be representing the Senju name in the academy, and studying under me as my apprentice." She said, her voice clear and demand audience. "I won't go easy on you."

"H-ha—hai!" Sakura stuttered her reply and once Tsunade nod, she bolted upstairs following by Tsunade's roared laughter.

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When Sakura first met Tsunade, she thought living with her would be hard, what with her chronic nervous attack. But after a week, she learned to ease in and act as normal as she can. On the eighth day, the busty lady let her in her private library (Row after row of neatly lined up books with their spines facing outward stacked in the numerous red wooden shelfs) and watched her study from time to time.

On Sunday night, the three of them went to a fancy restaurant called _Queen Ambience's_ where Sakura put on her first dress ever with black blazer and boots borrowed from Shizune. _Queen Ambience's_ was the kind of restaurant where prominent families or group dine in with its white tablecloths and flowers and candles and many silverwares that has to be used at least once in one setting. Sakura received a crash course from Shizune before the Senju arrived.

At first, Sakura was terribly fidgety imagining the many faces she'd have to memorize swiftly so as to not making any mistake when being asked, but when the menu was served, there were only three foreign faces sitting across the table.

In front of her was a man with white hair (made her think Kakashi was somehow related to the guy) and he was the only one with a serious expression to his face. The other two were more… relaxed, which is a mild way of putting it.

The man in the center was boisterous and not at all like the savvy loaded CEO Sakura pictured in her mind.

He has long dark brown hair and a smiley face. It is a smiley face that totally likes to smile and be positive all the time, she just knew. The man introduced himself as Hashirama Senju, her brother, the white haired one, was Tobirama.

On his left, a woman whose facial features looked almost identical to that of Tsunade introduced herself as Mito, the brown haired man wife. She said _this brown-haired man_ honestly. The woman was really pretty, just like Tsunade, but she has long dark red hair and definitely behind Tsunade in the bust size. They had the same tiny purple diamond tattoo etched on the center of their temples.

It was mostly a family gathering rather than a business like dinner of interrogation and assessing Sakura's standing with Hashirama comically trying to spoil Tsunade (apparently his only granddaughter) who became really annoyed, and Mito laughing at the funny scenes and Tobirama and Shizune looked on scandalously.

It was not at all like she expected but she was definitely glad and at ease with the situation.

They mentioned their grandnephew who's at the same age as Sakura. Tsunade mumbled ' _that Naruto brat'_ annoyedly. The Senju elders expected her to be friends with him. Sakura nodded, of course. She'd be glad if this Naruto really wants to be her friends but didn't think much of it. Rather, she concentrates on consuming the great dishes as discreetly as possible, which is pretty hard with Senju Tobirama glancing inquisitively at her every now and then.

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 **Sorry this one's rather short!  
**


	3. 3: Solo Scaping

**The third chapter, let's see, there's Itachi, Sasuke and Naruto, and Ichiraku's. And also Sasori, Deidara, Hidan and Kisame, but Sakura didn't know them yet.**

 **Happy reading!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN NARUTO.**

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 **Start of Something**

 **"Solo Scaping"**

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At the end of her third week, Sakura finally met her fellow students.

She was exploring the school ground near the teachers' compound when she heard a loud yell and hushed voices from inside the indoor swimming pool building and she just have to went in. It's time to check the pool it seems.

Sakura walked up silently and pushed open the front door and stepped into a tall bright spacey hall. There was a splash and surprised yelp as she emerged from the other side the bleachers and came face to face with a group of guys. Five, to be exact; two were in the pool, one, a blonde, had his one leg inside the water and the other climbed out near where a red head was sitting on the edge of the pool and the last one was sitting on the first row.

Sakura took a moment and assumed none of them were staffs or teachers. How she got into that conclusion she never understood.

They were all staring at her. Three of them were un-doubtfully shirtless.

Clearly, it was not how she pictured an ideal start of a long harmonious friendship, but she took the first step boldly. "Hi!" she greeted.

When Sakura first showed herself, they all looked so surprised they paused mid whatever activities they were doing, but as soon as she said hi, like a play button somewhere had been clicked, they all resumed.

The other two were bickering in the water and the blonde one pulled himself out of the pool, annoying the red head, who smacked him.

"Shit!" he cursed, then glared at the person beside him. "What was that for, yeah?!"

The red head ignored his rant, just like how the rest of them were ignoring Sakura.

She blanched. It was definitely not going to be a long harmonious friendship indeed.

Sakura didn't move, feeling it would be rude to just left after saying hello, but not quite sure how to approach either. She stared at them, her feet glued in place. This has its perks, which is a good thing, given how uncomfortable the situation was for her. Outside of being given a nice view of three _very nice and shirtless_ bodies (it's not checking out, it doesn't count!) she took the opportunity to take on the unnecessarily magnificent hall.

The hall was bright and tall, on one side of the wall there are bleachers facing the wide blue pool and glass wall with a clear view of the baseball pitch. She couldn't wait to swim there, but of course, not in the presence of five older (well they don't looked fifteen) strangers.

The guys, ignoring the fact that they completely ignored her sad attempt of making friends, were not half-bad. Two of them are what Sakura would call crush-material; the one sitting nonchalantly in the bleachers has long midnight hair tied in a low ponytail and dark guarded eyes. Two stress lines were apparent between his eyes. He looked athletic and lean beneath his white shirt. He came from a high-class environment; Sakura was sure, noting his posture. In spite of many of his obviously appealing physical qualities, it was his hair that irked Sakura the most. Commercial worthy, she was sure; those tresses.

The other crush-worthy was the red head, probably, because of his delicate features. He looked really pretty and Sakura usually wasn't the type of girl to call a guy pretty.

She looked down at her feet, suddenly feeling self-conscious. She was wearing her usual washed out jeans and her really old orange gingham shirt with oil and paint stains from when she tried to learn to paint. She hadn't even bothered to brush her hair this morning.

Sakura reached for her earphone and went to the bleachers. The black haired male nodded at her when she sat beside him (a good distance away, but still beside him). Sakura nodded back and they fell into a mutually comfortable silence.

"My name's Haruno Sakura," she blurted after a few minutes.

The man nodded ever so slightly and attempted on what Sakura thought was a smile but it came out more like a grimace. "Uchiha Itachi."

She could literally see the dark clouds looming over his head and mentally crossed the Uchiha Itachi name from her list of potential crushes.

"Are you a student?" she asked the guy.

After a few moments of calculated staring, he seemed more relaxed when he answered, "I'm in college, second year."

"Oh," Sakura frowned, feeling slightly uncomfortable. The silence that stretches intensified her uneasiness.

Itachi watched her for a while. "What about you, Haruno-san?" he asked. His voice was flat and there's no intonation to it Sakura wonders if it's really a question.

"I'm a freshman. I just moved here."

Itachi seemed to consider this, then he looked back at the pool, where his friends were. "I see."

Sakura looked at the rest of the guys. Three of them are bickering and water splashing inside the pool and the red head sitting on the side of the pool glanced over at the bleachers, his eyes meeting Sakura's briefly, calculatingly. "You're not joining them?" She asked.

At this, Itachi actually looked kind of surprised. He turned to Sakura and said, "No," curtly, a little defensively if she may add, and it brought a smile to her face, for some reason.

"You don't like to swim?" She asked, surprisingly at ease and feeling rather chatty.

Itachi thought about it, then "I don't feel like it," he answered finally.

Even though Itachi Uchiha wasn't much of a conversationalist and his answer left nothing for Sakura to go on, she talked anyway.

"I moved here from Ame, on some sort of academic sponsorship," she said. "It's my first time going into a boarding school like this one though."

Itachi sort of smiled and it struck Sakura how friendly he looked right then.

"Do you always live here?"

"Yes," he said flatly.

Sakura nodded absently, "my dad and I move a lot, he's a volunteer doctor, my dad," she told him. Itachi studied her as she talks and Sakura becoming more uncertain the longer he stared. "Well, it was nice getting to see new places, but it was never that great where we live. I spent a month taking my morning shower at school when we had to live in a tent."

"So you're staying here?" he asked after a while.

Sakura stared at him. "What?"

Itachi stared back passively. "You don't like moving, and now you're on a scholarship."

"Yes?" she drawled, confused.

"You have the opportunity to change your life here, no?"

"Oh," she frowned, "no, this is only temporary. I study medical so I can help my dad, so I'll probably go for Snow after high school."

Itachi looked at her thoughtfully. "Aa," he said finally, dismissively.

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"Excuse me." Sakura tapped a friendly-looking young woman who was checking her phone under the street lamp. When she looked up to her, Sakura forced herself to smile, in spite of her exhaustion. "Could you please tell me the direction to either the Central Konoha Library or The Leaf Historical Museum?" she asked in her most friendly manner.

Public transportation was confusing as hell in Konoha, or maybe it's her lack of street experience, but what should-be an exciting trip to navigate the city alone ended up in a quiet suffering disaster of getting lost in a sea of cars, impatient people and unforgiving summer sun.

The young woman smiled at her and it made her day a thousand times better. "The museum is a bit far from here, if you're walking, but the Central Library is that building." She said in a friendly manner, pointing to a circular building several blocks away. "We're looking at it from behind, so there's no indication, and it doesn't look like a library, too."

"Thank you miss, I'm really sorry to bother you." Sakura bowed.

The woman nodded. "Are you a tourist, if you don't mind me asking?"

"No, I just moved here recently." She told her.

"Oh, well, my father own a ramen restaurant near here, it's called Ichiraku's. It will be my pleasure if you visit us when you have time."

Sakura felt happy somehow, it was her first time being invited to a ramen shop. She beamed. "Oh sure, I'd love to, if you could draw me a map…" she stumbled through her backpack searching for a note and pen.

Sakura had a map drawn for her by Tsunade-shishou when she ask the older woman permission for a trip to the city, but it was hastily drawn and her instructions regarding transportations were also vague and incorrect. She suspects the woman never actually had to use public bus to travel. Shizune was worried, of course, when Sakura first told them of her intention, but Sakura managed to convinced her to let her do the _solo_ adventure.

In the end, Shizune was the one who gave her the idea of visiting the museum and the library. The library, especially, since it was located near the Konoha Central Park where she could probably befriend people her age. Apparently it's a popular teen attraction; the Central Park, not the Central Library.

Sakura waved her goodbye to the friendly woman—Ayame was her name—and continued on her way.

Ten minutes later, she was inside the library.

The architecture was really awe-inspiring; the ceilings were see-through glass and the big marbled circular stairs were magnificent. Being used to dingy emergency tents and monochrome apartment buildings, her mind screamed _overload_ to the vibrant but elegant modern interior. For a day, she swore being an architect was her number one dream.

That day, she also got her first library card.

Tsunade-shishou's library may contain hundreds of papered vastly important knowledge of how to save a life, and even though some of those books can never be found in Central Library, it got many other interesting things to offer; magical child, witches, and detective stories, even some really disturbing adult romance. And the architecture! Even after hours of admiring every aspect of the building, it doesn't bore her.

Shizune texted her every now and then, but Sakura got the feeling that, like her dad, or many people in her life actually, they were never bound to worry about her. She was self-reliant. It might be the fact that it's the sole image Sakura wanted to imprint and she had worked for it for most of her fifteen years of life, and she was always considered strong. It must be that according to people, whatever lies ahead, she would never get lost; she was bound to be alright.

The last text Shizune sent her was four hours ago, when she was still inside the bus that got her nowhere. It goes something like this:

 _You should see the dancing water fountain at night! Teenagers tend to gather there, including some that goes to our school._

And Sakura was about to leave the library and visit the ramen store when the fountain dancing began.

It was just after sunset, and true to Shizune's words, teenagers and young adults seemed to gather round the attraction.

Konoha Central Park was not like the usual park Sakura ever visited where usually only elders and children frequent. Konoha Central Park was huge, like acres of neatly architected outdoor huge. There were jogging tracks, rollerblading tracks, skate boarder basins, and of course, the big fat fountain(s).

They played some really energetic music as the fountain 'dance', illuminated by colorful lights and teenagers flocked into their groups, drinking soda and enjoying the night. Staying there and sitting alone would probably look rather pathetic, but that was what Sakura did anyway. She bought hotdogs and water, on her lap was _The Little Prince_.

Sakura took in her surroundings. Ten meters from her bench were a group of girls, talking and laughing and doing what most of everybody else was doing, dancing a little, pointing at the water bursts, taking pictures of themselves. A couple of distances away from the girls were two boys; a blonde and what Sakura blushingly admit to be the prettiest boy she ever saw. They were arguing or bickering, really.

After the music ended, Sakura got up, following Ayame's instruction in finding her bus. She walked briskly into the bus station and bought her tickets.

Inside the bus, she took a seat near the pretty boy and his blonde friend from the park. The pretty boy had a very grouchy expression on his face while the blonde sulked. Sakura took out her earphone to listen to some of her music and kept a very serious look on the streets.

 _Ichiraku's, Ichiraku's…_

 _And there it is!_

Sakura got off at the nearest station, along with the two boys.

Now, she felt kind of creeped out. Not because she suspect she just got herself some good-looking stalkers, but it's just weird that their silly bickering and loud footsteps accompanied her all the way to the ramen shop.

"Dobe, why are we eating here again?"

"Because, _teme_ , this is the greatest restaurant where the best RAMEN ever was invented!"

Some smacking sound and lots of cursing later, the raven-haired boy and his companion took a seat on Sakura's left inside the small ramen shop. They interacted easily with the man behind the stool, or at least, the blonde did. The pretty faced grouchy baby just sat there, looking unamused at the blonde antics.

After the older man finished talking with the blonde, he turned to Sakura and smiled, looking expectant.

"Umm," needless to say, she had never ordered a ramen before, usually her dad bought her food. "Whatever's on the menu, but not anything really spicy." She added.

"Is Ayame-san here?" she said when the man served her (and the two boys) their ramen.

"Oh, my, you knew my daughter?" Sakura nodded eagerly, "she's at the back, but I'll call her for you."

"Thank you, sir." She smiled gratefully.

When she turned to her side, the blonde boy with _striking_ blue eyes stared at her, mouth agape and blush adorning his cheeks.

Sakura felt her face flush.

"Dobe, stop gaping, it's disgusting." The black haired guy scorned his friend.

"Wha—teme! Stop calling me that!" Then, they continued to bicker over their ramen. Sakura was only slightly miffed.

"Sakura-san, you're here!" Ayame came over her, smiling. Behind her, Teuchi-san, her father, tried to stop the boys' argument.

Ayame sighed. "They're regulars." She said, staring at the commotion with a little fondness in her eyes that contradict her tired tone.

Sakura smiled at the young woman in front of her. "You know each other long?"

"Yes," Ayame turned back at her. "They're fifteen now, they've been here since they were six."

Sakura look over at the guys, feeling just a little jealous. "Nine years, huh…" she mused.

Ayame placed her order. "Here," she said, holding out chopsticks.

Sakura took them. "Enjoy your food," Ayame said.

"Itadakimasu," she said politely.

The ramen was good, indeed, and not at all like what her dad usually bought her. She thought about her dad, feeling a little ashamed to be having wonderful dinners and comparing them to what she used to have before coming to Konoha while her dad's probably had to have worse food to eat.

"Hey!"

Sakura turned to her side, face to face with a pair of blue eyes.

"Yes?" she said.

The boy flushed red and held out a hand. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, fifteen years old!"

It was a weird introduction to Sakura's mind but she put down her chopsticks and shook his hand. "Haruno Sakura. I'm fifteen, too."

He let go of her hand and scratch his neck bashfully. "How's the ramen? It's great, isn't it? I'm a regular here, with teme," he poked on the raven-haired teenager.

"I am not!" the boy scowled indignantly.

Naruto snickered. "You went here twice a week every holiday."

The raven-haired boy looked really crossed at this. "Unwillingly," he gritted.

Naruto laughed and Sakura only understand little of their inside joke—if one can call it that.

"But it's the best ramen you tasted right, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura smiled politely, "It is."

Naruto grinned widely at this and the boy beside him scoffed.

"Oy, Sasuke!" Naruto yelled, "Introduce yourself, you rude!"

'Sasuke' closed his eyes at Naruto's shouting, seeming trying very hard to control his temper.

"I'm right here, dobe, don't. Shout. At. Me." He gritted venomously. Sakura had to wonder how these two could be friends for nine years—or maybe more—because despite of their constant arguing, there's a sure stand, this very obvious thing that just made people doubt that they aren't friends.

"Uchiha Sasuke." He nodded at Sakura.

Sakura nodded thinking of Itachi and how Konoha is not that big of a city. "Haruno Sakura."

"So, Sakura-chan," Naruto grinned, "you're fifteen, right? That means you're going to high school right?"

Sasuke did a face-slap at this.

" _Right_. Of course," was Sakura's answer. "I'm admitted at Konoha High."

Naruto looked positively glowing. "Me too, we're gonna be best buddy!"

"And I'm gonna be free of you," Sasuke grunted.

And Sakura realized something. "Wait, Naruto-san, do you know Tsunade Senju?"

"Oh, Tsunade baa-chan," Sakura twitched at the honorific, "yeah, I knew her." Naruto looked sulky for once and rubbed his forehead unconsciously, "scary old lady… Why do you want to know, Sakura-chan?"

"Well, I live with her," both boys went wide-eyed at her, well Sasuke twitched but it was his best shocked expression, maybe.

"Where?" Sasuke asked her.

"…At school."

He considered this, then "Why?"

Naruto wailed, "Sakura-chan, you can stay at my house! I can't see you battered and lifeless from all the beatings she called training, the slave-driver!"

As if on cue, Sakura's phone rang. Shizune's the caller.

"Hello?"

"Sakura, have you gone home yet? You missed dinner."

It's already late and Sakura felt guilty for not informing Shizune of her visit to Ichiraku's. "Um, not yet. I met some new friends…"

"Oh, okay, I saved you a portion. When will you be back? I'll heat it up for you."

Sakura decided she didn't mind extra stuffing; she's a little too skinny anyway. "Okay, I'll get going now. Thank you Shizune nee-san, and I'm really sorry if I made you worry, and Tsunade-shishou, too… Wait, she's not mad," Sakura gulped, "right?"

Shizune sighed, "No, she got her sake, and some of her friends are here."

Sakura contemplate this. "Is it a good time for me to go home?"

"For me, yes. But for your sake, it's better to _not_ use the front door. They're in the living room, err—bickering."

"Okay," Sakura pay for her ramen, "Thanks Teuchi-san, and Ayame-san!"

"Sakura-chan, you're going home to Tsunade baa-chan?!"

"Uh, yeah, you want to come?"

She was in no position to offer such invitation, seeing as it is not her house she invited them, too and she got no permission to bring friends, but she blurted it out, and though she regretted it as soon as she did, she couldn't help but feel that Tsunade wouldn't mind.

"Visiting granny Tsunade's not my hobby, but I'll call my mom to tell her I have to make sure you're alright, Sakura-chan! And teme!" He grab at the guy.

Sasuke slapped his hand. "What? I'm not going."

"But _teme_ , what if I _died_?!"

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..

...

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 **Can anyone tell me about high school parties? We only have prom in Indonesia...  
**


	4. 4

**Sorry for the late update! I've been busy these last few months. I just moved out from home to attend college in Bali (architecture major XD)! Anyway, here's the fourth chapter, hope I don't disappoint! Leave me a review so I know!**

 **Happy Reading!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN NARUTO.**

* * *

 **Start of Something**

 **"Chapter 4"**

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For some reason totally lost on Sakura, Sasuke decided to come with them. But he's bitching about it in his own silent way, though this is in no way less annoying.

At least with Naruto and Sasuke coming, she needn't worry about getting lost on the way home. They've been to Konoha school ground for most of their lives and knew the exact way to Tsunade's house. More on that, even Tsunade's two weird friends knew them—apparently Jiraiya, the sleazy white haired man, is Naruto's Godfather and the Uchihas all has had issues with the other err— _unique_ one, Orochimaru.

And Tsunade, a little drunk as she was, boast about Sakura while also out loud pointed out how she's a prude and has no friends and how the word a _sexual_ is practically stamped on her otherwise big brilliant forehead.

That night was a headache for Sakura and Shizune.

Also two weeks after that for Sakura; because Naruto make it his everyday goal to get Sakura a _life_. Clearly he didn't think that studying and helping in the kitchen was the appropriate life of a fifteen years-old on a holiday.

"I'm gonna teach you how to have _fun_ , Sakura-chan!" _Fun_.

Naruto took fun to a totally different dimension than what Sakura and Sasuke ground themselves. Of course, at first Sakura thought Sasuke didn't even knew what fun is, but quickly changed her mind as he went along with Naruto in his crazy ideas somehow. Then again, they've been friends since they were little.

"You'll be married, before you know it." She said.

They're bowling and Sasuke actually slipped and the ball ended up rolling in the gutter. He send her a chilling glare, but Sakura is secretly doing a little victory dance instead of cowering in fear. Sasuke act very haughty in the duration he got constant strikes and occasional spares while Sakura only ever managed to land a strike once, and that's an accident. Naruto's not bad, but Sasuke clearly think he's the king of the game. And two weeks under his constant belittling presence and _you-have-no-significance-and-obviously-I'm-better-than-you_ glare, Sakura feels glad to get just a little chance of humiliating Sasuke in any way.

Seriously, the stick-up- _up_ -so-high-his-ass did great in almost everything they decided to do. Sakura suspects that maybe that's why he got along with Naruto's idea, no matter how much he bitched about it on the way. Sasuke wouldn't miss a moment he gets to fuel his sense of superiority.

"Sakura-chan!" she heard Naruto wailed from behind her, "how could you say that?! Sasuke-teme may be gay, but I like girls!"

"Oh shut it!" She said before Sasuke boiled in anger. Sakura concentrates on the lane.

She still hasn't got quite the proper release of the ball like Sasuke and Naruto does. She put too much strength and the ball flew out of her hands, it made a loud thudding noise before it hit the pins. She managed to knock most of it though, leaving only two pins on the left.

Naruto congratulate her, even though it was all wrong.

"Don't be upset, you get it better than I first did, Sakura-chan!" he said when Sakura sulked through their lunch.

Sasuke smirked, "hn," and obviously _it did not help at all,_ so Sakura send him a _slightly_ murderous glare.

They tried hockey, ice skating, skateboard, and tennis and in all of them, Sasuke ended up the winner, even in games that wasn't supposed to be won.

"Let's try something different, something I already know." Sakura huffed, frustrated.

"But the point of all this," Naruto explained carefully, "are to, you know, introduce you to _new_ things, to loosen you up a little, as Tsunade-baa-chan said it."

"Hn, it's a good practice." Sasuke nodded.

"I need a break from being sucks." She grabbed the last slice of pizza while Naruto looked on longingly. "Let's try—um, soccer?"

It stunned Naruto, his mouth hanging open in mid-air as he tried to take a bite. Sasuke scoffed.

"What," Sakura said as she took a bite, keeping her eyes on Sasuke, "you're so sure you'd win?"

"You think?" He smirked at her, and though it _is_ a very pretty smirk, she hissed at him, fed up with two weeks of being underestimated.

"But you need more people to play soccer, though." Naruto interjected.

Sakura ignored this. "Ten shots. Naruto can be keeper."

Sasuke took a gulp from his glass. "No, he'd let you win. I'll bring someone else."

It doesn't seem fair but Sakura relent, knowing, even for only two weeks, how stubborn Sasuke can be, the ass. "Saturday morning, high school soccer field."

They nodded in agreement.

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On Saturday morning, Sakura woke up at _exactly_ seven a.m.

She put on a red jersey her dad bought her for last year's birthday and her former school gym pants. She rolled up her sleeves and tied her hair to a high ponytail.

Sakura went down to help Shizune with breakfast, but she refused saying it's a special day.

"It is not," Sakura blushed. She told Tsunade and Shizune of the challenge the night after they went bowling.

"It is! This is the day you'll earn their attention and respect! It's always the same with boys," she sighed, "well, you'll put up a good fight, I know you will, you're so much like Tsunade-sama…"

Sakura blush deepen, "I don't need their attention," she mumbled, because the phrase sounds wrong in her ears.

"Yep, you are so much like her when she's younger." Shizune placed a plate full of sandwiches in front of Sakura.

"I'm just tire—I mean, I just—I don't like losing too much… and Sasuke's been an ass about it, and I just, you know, want to take him down a peg. And yes, earn their respect, since, I don't know, I suck at everything they play, and I think I look really stupid and I don't want them to think like that." She rambled, "I don't even know, I just want to make a good impression."

Shizune smiled at her and Tsunade smirked from the other side of the table, grabbing her sandwich. She looked like she heard more than half her rambling.

Sakura put her hands on her face. "I'm sorry. I'm just afraid I'll lose, I know it's just a game…"

"Sakura," came Tsunade's stern voice. "You said you're pretty strong, right?"

Sakura sat up straight. "Yes, shishou."

"You just need a good aim."

"Good aim."

"And you need to believe in yourself more."

"Yes."

"What's that?"

"YES shishou!"

"Good! And kick some sense to those Uchiha asses!"

"Affirmative!"

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It was a tie—well, almost a tie, which is weird.

The score was weirder.

Sakura's zero to Sasuke's zero.

Everyone said it was a tie, but Sakura knew she lost.

The keeper turned out to be Sasuke's celestially perfect older brother. Namely, Itachi Uchiha.

The ex-crush material Sakura met at the pool.

He caught and blocked every shot they kicked. Sasuke was a fool, she thought. It would've been better if the keeper was Naruto. Though she didn't know how good Naruto was at guarding the goal, she was pretty sure he's not as good as Itachi. The man's invincible.

Orochimaru ogled at him and Sasuke from the bleachers and Tsunade yelled profanities at him.

So he's famous, Sakura thought, because, why not?

Naruto came to her after they're done, patting her shoulder. "Great shots, Sakura-chan!" He cheered.

Sakura smiled, "I'm still the loser, though."

"But it's a tie," he said while looking at her confusedly.

It was very ridiculous of her, but it was not a tie, at least to her. Sasuke managed to aim all his ten shots to the goal. Sakura didn't. Two of her first shots miss the goalpost some meters away. And she was so embarrassed that Kakashi saw those fails from his seat, she had no idea why, but her neck felt hot when he cheered for her. And when she missed, it was like the end of the world.

It was because of Tsunade she managed to get it right her third try.

"You need a good aim," she said. But more importantly, she has to believe in herself first.

Sakura swallowed when Sasuke approach her, but he offered her a hand and grunted, "Good play."

"You too," She said, shaking his hand. Then she thinks of Itachi. "You're great, but I'm still blaming you." She pouted friend-to-friend, not-cute, pout.

Sasuke smiled a bit. Or smirked, really. "Fair enough. I'm suicidal."

"Yeah, but it's good. At least this way I don't get to embarrass myself much."

"You don't," Sasuke cut her. "We actually don't expect you to manage to kick the ball for more than five meters away."

He let go of her hand. "You'd slipped, or something, but you got some good shots."

Sasuke's words helped a lot, even though she should probably feel insulted or something, because he did imply both he and Naruto think she's a loser.

" _Right_ ," she poked his ribs, "thanks anyway Sasuke!"

"Hn," He said simply as his older brother came behind him.

"Otouto," he called, "Haruno-san."

Sakura nodded. "Uchiha-san. Nice saves." Sasuke scoffed

Itachi ignored this. "You delivered good shots yourself."

Sasuke looked annoyed at her for some reason, so she said, "Sasuke did better." She waved her arms awkwardly. "He beat me in everything we did. He's really good at bowling, too. I made a fool of myself when we bowl."

Itachi stare at Sakura in an impossibly blank yet somehow feels intrusive stare that almost make Sakura cringe and shy away behind Sasuke's sleeve.

"It is your first time bowling." He said, then, "You don't have to be an immediate expert at something you just start, Haruno-san."

Sakura was being a brat, she self-reflected, so she smiled at Itachi and Sasuke. "Yeah, I just realized. And thank you Uchiha-san, for participating in our game."

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On the last day of holiday, Sakura spent her evening at Ichiraku's with Sasuke and Naruto after a day of learning the art of roller blading while Sasuke and Naruto was skateboarding.

"Say, Sakura-chan, what classes are you taking?"

"From the placement test result?"

"Yeah," Naruto nodded.

Sakura answered confidently—and a little boastfully as only the pupil of the great Tsunade-sama. "Junior English, Chemistry, Biology and Sophomore Math. The rest were freshman level. I got a special medic class with Tsunade-shishou, though."

"That's impressive," Sasuke said. "But you're on scholarship, right?"

"Yep."

"Whoa, Sakura-chan! You're really smart! But humble! Unlike _some_ …"

"Shut up," Sasuke smacked Naruto, then he turned to Sakura, "you need to work hard, scholarship can be refuted."

This surprised Sakura more than she admitted. "If that happen, I'll go straight to Snow."

Naruto turned at this. "You came from Snow? Well, that explains the pale…"

Sakura shakes her head. "No, I don't," she said. "But my dad's staying there currently. Work related."

"Oh, cool." He nodded.

Sakura checked her phone. "I better go home, and no, we will not visit the dango shop," then she added, "and I didn't invite you, I can go home by myself now, you know."

"No," Naruto said firmly, Sasuke nodding at him. "We invited you here, we'll drive you home. Plus, there's no way I'm letting a girl walk home alone at night. My Mum would kill me," he shuddered at the thought, "and Sasuke's mother will too." A pause, "and _Itachi_ will be _so disappointed_."

He said this to get a rise out of Sasuke, because even after only an hour being in the presence of Sasuke with Itachi in vicinity, Sakura already knew of her grouchy friend's Godzilla sized brother complex. Almost at a level where he'd build an Itachi temple and worship god _Itachi_.

"Dobe, of course I'll drive her," Sasuke said this in monotone, but his eyebrow twitched, and with Sasuke, it means he's pissed. He was cute that way. "I was raised an _Uchiha_."

This is also an issue with Sasuke. Sakura was sure the phrase should be 'I was raised a _gentleman_ ' but that'd be too cliché for him to say. And he's so damn proud of his name, but Sakura can't really blame the boy. The name _Uchiha_ is big.

Apparently, one of her friends came from a family that's _filthy rich._

Surpassing even the _mansion-for-a-home_ rich. Sasuke's family actually owns _several_ towers. And hotels.

Sakura never questioned what hotel, but she did ask, politely, why he eats ramen twice a week there. He spluttered on his noodles. It was not pretty, but his face's still cute and he didn't answer the question. He scowled his pretty scowl and they continued to eat their ramen in silence.

Inside the car, Sasuke and Naruto bicker lightly, as always, and Sakura learn to just tune them down whenever these things happen (very often). She looked at them from the backseat, feeling warm and happy.

Naruto was a little childish sometimes and Sakura loves to teach or cover him whenever he blurted out something inappropriate. But he's also really, really kind and sincere. He's her sleeping child. It made her feel bad but she never felt the need to look over someone more than she did Naruto, not even her dad's patients and homeless refugees.

And Sasuke…

Well, right then, he looked so handsome driving, she thinks. But there are more to Sasuke than his physical excellence, of course, beneath all the stick up his ass and inferiority-superiority complex. She pegged Sasuke for the kind of person who didn't really bother with the rest of the world, but he never really intentionally hurt people. And like her, she thinks Sasuke also care so much for his precious people.

"Can we _please_ stop, just a little bit, at _Amaguriama_?"

Naruto looked at her expectantly.

"You should ask Sasuke. It's his car."

Sasuke grunted, and Naruto turn to scowl at him before turning back to Sakura.

"If you say yes, he'll comply."

Sasuke didn't say anything, or gave any indication that he listened to Naruto's claim and turn to deny it.

Naruto gave her the puppy eyes. " _Please,_ " he said.

Sakura actually feels happy and wants to stay with them more, so she huffed at Naruto. "Ok," she said simply.

Naruto grinned at her nonetheless.

.

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..

...

* * *

 **Truthfully, this is a chapter I've written in May, but I have troubles uploading it because I didn't think this story is good enough. I have a few sub-plots in mind, but I don't think I have enough skill to make it a good story, but I'll try. Ultimately, though, I want this to be a life-portrayal, my Sakura life-portrayal, in spite of all the not so realistic drama (bcs I even made up the town and school). There's gonna be family drama, Itachi-Sasuke drama, Akatsuki drama, friendship drama, girl drama... It looks so exciting in my head, though I don't know if I could bring it out in my writings. Be patient with me!**

 **My replies to all the reviewers so far:**

(But first, THANK YOU to all of you, i reaally really appreciate the feedback! Really, a thousand thanks!)

SkippingThrough: My first reviewer! How I really want to spoil you on the parents scenario! and about the tenses, I'm really sorry, I usually have no problem writing essays in school, but somehow my mind got jumbled up when I write the story, but I'm willing to learn, and maybe, possibly if I have the time, I'll edit the previous chapters. Sorry if I'm a slow learner though.

VampireKitty34: Thanks for your eagerness! I don't know about the Pein ship, though, I haven't really decided on the pairings, oh well, I have decided one, but it's going to be unrequited, maaayybe...

Anbu-chan: I checked out Lord Huron ;D and have added Ghost on the shore to my playlist. and yeah, I intend to portray Sakura as a slightly awkward and slightly misguided teenage girl. she's not actually shy, I think, she just haven't found her footing in the new place, but I think that's what being fifteen years old is all about. She's still very much clamped in her shell. I look up your profile, by the way, because your pen name sounds familiar, and now I'm reading the Barista!

xMousex: Thanks for the suggestion, I'm checking out her youtube. She sounds more Ino than Sakura, though!


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